Solomon's reign over Israel was marked not by wisdom but by a despotic personal extravagance and love of ostentation at the expense of his people. He did not feel bound by a covenant with Yahweh. So it was that Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, was sent to forewarn the people that the kingdom would be split and that Jeroboam, an Ephramite in Solomon's service, would inherit rule over ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. The dramatic tearing of the cloak by Ahijah was a symbolic gesture to emphasise that this was Yahweh's promise to His people and a covenant with Jeroboam. He was to rule according to this covenant and not ignore it, as Solomon so blatantly did by allowing the worship of false gods.

In our Gospel reading today, we see God being glorified in Jesus. Even though the people who had witnessed the cure of the deaf and dumb man were asked to keep secret what they had seen, they blatantly ignored Jesus request. The difference was that they were not disobeying a covenant agreement but were making known the miracle of being cured. They did not want to ignore God's work. They remembered Isaiah's prediction in Isaiah 29:18 and 35:5: "he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak" and were convinced this was the work of God.